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Index Page for Work by |
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Contents
Routledge Handbook of NGOs and International Relations
Elgar Handbook of Research on NGOs
Information on Consultative Status for NGOs with the UN Economic and Social Council
Primary Sources - United Nations Documents and Websites
List of Websites for NGO Networks
References for Books on NGOs by Peter Willetts
References for Articles and Book Chapters on NGOs, by Peter Willetts
Books on NGOS by Other Authors, with Input from Peter Willetts
Routledge Handbook of NGOs and International Relations
“Foreword” to the Routledge Handbook of NGOs and International Relations, edited by Thomas Davies, (London and New York: Routledge, 2019). This is a magesterial compendium, with 42 chapters, provided by 57 contributors. five sections covering all the major questions being addressed by researchers on non-governmental organisations. They are the history of the emergence of NGOs; how to understand NGOs through theory and analysis; the wide range of NGO concerns and activities; the different situations in countries in each of the global regions; and current problems faced by NGOs and civil society in general.
The chapter by Peter Willetts updates his previous work on NGOs at the UN, by outlining the steep increase in the number of NGOs since 2000, the changes in the types of NGOs being accredited and the breakthrough in gaining access to the General Assembly, through the new format of “Hearings”.
Elgar Handbook of Research on NGOs
“NGOs as Insider Participants: Evolution of the role of NGOs at the United Nations”, a chapter in the Elgar Handbook of Research on NGOs, edited by Aynsley Kellow and Hannah Murphy-Gregory, (Cheltenham: Elgar Publishers, September 2018). This Handbook is focused on NGOs and global politics. It opens with a section on the history of NGOs, their role in intergovernmental organisations and problems in studying NGOs systematically. The second section covers the activities of NGOs in eight different policy areas. The final section discusses seven issues from accountability, global governance and religion, to problems in China and the EU, and going global in private governance and the professions.
The chapter by Peter Willetts updates his previous work on NGOs at the UN, by outlining the steep increase in the number of NGOs since 2000, the changes in the types of NGOs being accredited and the breakthrough in gaining access to the General Assembly, through the new format of “Hearings”.
What is a Non-Governmental Organisation?
Article, for the UNESCO Encyclopaedia of Life Sciences, on the different structures, types of NGO coalitions and how NGOs relate to social movements and civil society - click here
Workshop on NGOs in World Politics, City University, London, 18 October 2013 – Notes from the Keynote Presentation by Peter Willetts - as a Word document - as a web page
The Voice of Which People? Transnational Advocacy Networks and Governance Networks at the United Nations (City University Working Papers on Transnational Politics, CUTP010, January 2013), on the difference between advocacy networks, whose members share basic values and campaign for common goals, and governance networks, whose members have different values and who are united solely on the question of claiming participation rights in an intergovernmental institution - click here
Sources, for the above paper, some of which are no longer available elsewhere. - click here
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Information on Consultative Status for NGOs
with the UN Economic and Social Council.
Different Versions of the United Nations Statute for NGOs
The NGO Statute specifies the conditions for NGOs to be recognised by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations of ECOSOC and the participation rights they gain once they obtain consultative status. The basic relationship was specified in 1946. The term, “Statute” was first used in 1950, when the previous resolutions and practice were consolidated into a single resolution. In 1968 and again 1993-1996, the NGO Committee undertook a substantial review of the Statute. Despite much debate, relatively minor changes were made in the second and third versions of the Statute.
- Economic and Social Council Resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996 (currently in force) - click here.
- Economic and Social Council Resolution 1296 (XLIV) of 23 May 1968 - click here.
- Economic and Social Council Resolution 288B (X) of 27 February 1950 - click here.
- Economic and Social Council Resolution 3 (II) of 21 June 1946 - click here.
The List of NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC
New lists of accredited NGOs have been published each year, to consolidate the changes made by ECOSOC in their mid-year session. These lists are issued in the E/yyyy/INF/x series of documents, where E/… signifies it is a document of the Economic and Social Council, yyyy is the year in which it was (or should have been) published and x is just the number in the series for that year.
The lists have sometimes appeared after a long delay. As of May 2022, the lists for 2020 and 2021 had still not been issued. The September 2012 list was not published until April 2013; the September 2013 list did appear in October 2013; but the September 2014 list was delayed until December 2014. Old lists are not directly available from the ECOSOC websites, so this web page is the only easy way to make comparisons across the years. Where available, the HTM files provided here have been prepared by Peter Willetts by copy-editing the UN documents.
| UN Document | E/2019/INF/5 | E/2018/INF/5 | E/2017/INF/5† | E/2016/INF/5 | E/2015/INF/5 | E/2014/INF/5 | E/2013/INF/6 |
| 01 Sept 2019 | 01 Sept 2018 | 01 Sept 2017 | 01 Sept 2016 | 01 Sept 2015 | 01 Sept 2014 | 01 Sept 2013 |
| UN Document | E/2012/INF/6 | E/2011/INF/4 | E/2010/INF/4 | E/2009/INF/4 | E/2008/INF/5 | E/2007/INF/4 | E/2006/INF.4‡ |
| 01 Sept 2012 | 01 Sept 2011 | 01 Sept 2010 | 01 Sept 2009 | 18 Sept 2008 | 10 Oct 2007 | 31 Aug 2006 |
| UN Document | E/2005/INF.5‡ | E/2004/INF/5 | E/2003/INF/5* | E/2002/INF/4 | E/2001/INF/6 | E/2000/INF/4 | E/1999/INF/5 |
| 31 Aug 2005** | 31 Aug 2004 | 31 Aug 2003 | 31 Aug 2002 | 31 Aug 2001 | 31 Oct 2000 | 31 July 1999 | |
| HTM *** | 25 July 2005 | 04 Aug 2004 | 05 Aug 2003 | 06 Aug 2002 | 08 Aug 2001 | – | – |
| † | No final version of E/2017/INF/5 has been found. The document provided here is “2017-INF-draft_03-05-2018_a.pdf”, a preliminary “Unedited Version”. |
| ‡ | This document does have the non-standard number of “INF.x” rather than “INF/x”. |
| * | There was also a Corrigendum issued, as E/2003/INF/5/Corr.1, to remove from the list the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The (unstated) reason was that the IPU had been accepted by the UN General Assembly as an intergovernmental Observer. |
| ** | The title in this document incorrectly refers to “31 August 2004”, when the list is actually for 31 August 2005. |
| *** | The HTM files were created from web documents provided by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs for public information purposes. The PDF files are copies of the formal, official lists. In both cases, the date given above is the one cited within the document for the updating of the data. The publication dates are always weeks or even months later. |
- For a graph of the numbers of accredited NGOs, each year from 1945 to 2013, - click here for a Word file or click here for a web page
- For a note on the Roster of NGOs attending the Commission on Sustainable Development - click here
- For the record of the changes in the names of the three categories of NGOs - click here
- For the raw data on the numbers of NGOs accredited each year - click here
- For notes on the raw data about the addition and removal of NGOs from the lists each year - click here
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Primary Sources - United Nations Documents and Websites
The following links were active as of May 2022. The addresses do change sometimes, but they will be checked intermittently.
- The United Nations statute for NGOs, Economic and Social Council Resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996.
This resolution specifies the conditions for an NGO to be recognised by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations of ECOSOC and the participation rights they gain once they obtain consultative status, click here.
- The United Nations Secretariat’s Relations with Civil Society via the UN Department of Global Communications
- The UN Civil Society home page — Note that this is a different relationship, with a different accreditation process, from NGOs having consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council
- The Civil Society Unit within the Outreach Division in the United Nations Department of Global Communications (formerly the Department of Public Information)
- The Civil Society Resource Center in the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Building at 801 First Avenue, New York
- The UN Civil Society Conference (formerly the UN DPI/NGO Conference, the last conference under this name, the 67th DPI/NGO Conference, was held in August 2018)
- Guidelines for Association between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organisations, prepared by the NGO Section of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Note: this is a PDF file of twenty-one pages,
click here.
- The Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO). This is a network of NGOs focused an assisting its members to gain information about and to participate in UN institutions. The network itself has General Status with ECOSOC, click here.
- General Information about the United Nations click here.
- Links to the home pages for UN bodies, such as the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, etc
- Our Work a basic explanation of the UN system and links to its coverage of major global issues
- Events and News a guide to obtaining information about recent activities
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There is a multitude of diverse NGO networks. This list indicates which coalitions have been most successful in mobilising support on a global basis and influencing global policy-making in the United Nations and other forums for global diplomacy.
The following links were active as of May 2015. NGO networks are not stable. Some grow and some decline: some cease to exist and new ones are created. They are quite likely to change their URL addresses. The list will be checked intermittently.
- The Association for Progressive Communications was, in the 1980s and 1990s, the most important of all the global networks. It brought together small, highly specialised NGOs, dedicated to assisting all NGOs to gain access to global electronic communications. It was crucial in the creation of the Internet, establishing the world's first Internet Service Providers and ensuring that the Internet became a public, open-access forum rather than a set of government or commercial networks click here.
For a detailed time-line, covering the history of the APC, see the Wikipedia entry
For an analysis of APC's role in the creation of the Internet, see Peter Willetts, "NGOs, networking and the creation of the Internet", Chapter 4 of Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics. The construction of global governance, (London: Routledge Global Institutions Series, 2011) click here.
- One World specialises in assisting developing country NGOs in their use of the Internet and mobile phone apps. In the first decade of the Internet, it used to be the best port of call, in any search for information about a particular NGO or the range of NGOs involved on current global issues. It no longer has the resources to cover so many issues and since mid-2003 it has not maintained its directory of NGOs. click here.
- Trade Justice Network, campaigning on the terms of trade for developing countries click here.
- Fairtrade Foundation, certifying consumer products from developing countries click here.
- Oxfam International GROW Campaign, click here.
- List of websites for NGOs focusing on the IMF and the World Bank,
click here.
- The Coalition for an International Criminal Court, click here.
- The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, click here.
- The International Action Network on Small Arms, click here.
- The World Court Project – this no longer has a separate website. The campaign was not involved in the creation of an International Criminal Court. It targetted the existing International Court of Justice, to promote the idea that nuclear weapons are against international law. For information on this successful campaign, click here.
- Child Soldiers International, formerly the Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers click here.
- The International Baby Foods Action Network, click here.
- The Rainforest Action Network, click here.
- The Climate Action Network, click here.
- The Pesticide Action Network, click here.
- Health Action International, click here.
- Stakeholder Forum, derived from a London-based NGO, UNED Forum, (which was not part of the UN) that acts as a global resource for NGO networking on sustainable development. For their current website click here and for a legacy website on the Earth Summit 2002 click here.
- The following two networks have no website of their own, but their activities may be identified by putting their names in a search engine
- International NGO Committee on Human Rights in Trade and Investment (INCHRITI)
- Habitat International Coalition.
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Books on NGOs by Peter Willetts
- Non-Governmental Organizations in World Politics: The Construction of Global Governance, (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, Global Institutions Series, 2011), single author.
To see the contents - click here.
- 'The Conscience of the World'. The Influence of Non-Governmental Organisations in the UN System, (London: Christopher Hurst for the David Davies Institute, 1996), (Washington: The Brookings Institution, 1996), an edited collection. In the USA, this is permanently available from Brookingsthrough their print-on-demand system.
To see the contents - click here.
- Pressure Groups in the Global System: The Transnational Relations of Issue-Orientated Non-Governmental Organisations, (London: Frances Pinter, Global Politics Series, 1982), (New York: St.Martin's Press, 1982), an edited collection.
To see the contents - click here.
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Articles and Book Chapters on NGOs, by Peter Willetts
- 'Transnational Actors and International Organisations in Global Politics', in each edition of The Globalisation of World Politics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) – editions 1-3 by J. B. Baylis and S. Smith, and editions 4-6 by J. B. Baylis, S. Smith and P. Owens.
This chapter outlines the Pluralist approach to the study of global politics, argues that "states" should not be used as units of analysis (except as a legal concept) and discusses the location of transnational actors within global issue-systems and policy-domains.
- 'The Cardoso Report on the UN and Civil Society: Functionalism, Global Corporatism or Global Democracy?', Journal of Global Governance, Vol. 12, 2006, pages 305-324. - For a copy click here
- 'Civil Society Networks in Global Governance: Remedying the World Trade Organisation's Deviance from Global Norms', pp. 131-40, in Phoebe Griffith and Jack Thurston (eds.), Free and Fair: Making the Progressive Case for Removing Trade Barriers, (London: The Foreign Policy Centre, 2004).
This chapter argues the WTO is deficient in failing to implement the provision in the Marrakech Agreement establishing the WTO for consultations with NGOs. A series of steps are suggested for increased WTO engagement with NGOs. - For a copy click here
- 'Representation of Private Organisations in the Global Diplomacy of Economic Policy-Making', pp. 34-58, in Karsten Ronit and Volker Schneider (eds.), Private Organisations in Global Politics, (London and New York: Routledge European Consortium for Political Research Series, Number 15, 2000).
This chapter compares the participation rights of NGOs and of companies in the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO the ILO and UNCTAD. An assessment is made for each system whether the policy networks can best be described as being Pluralist or Corporatist.
- 'From "Consultative Arrangements" to "Partnership": The Changing Status of NGOs in Diplomacy at the UN', Journal of Global Governance, Vol. 6, 2000, pp. 191-212.
This article provides a broad overview of the history of NGO participation rights in the UN and concludes that their rights are so well established and codified that NGOs must now be regarded as a third type of international legal personality, alongside states and intergovernmental organisations.
- 'Die NGOs repräsentieren die Gesellschaft', pp.135-45, in O. Tolmein (ed.), Welt Macht Recht (Hamburg: Konkret Literatur Verlag, 2000).
This is a German translation of the transcript of a 30-minute radio interview, broadcast by Deutschlandfunk Köln on 6 February 2000, as part of a series on current international questions. The interview was a general discussion between Peter Willetts and Oliver Tolmein on the influence of NGOs in contemporary global politics.
- 'The Rules of the Game', pp. 247-283, in J. W. Foster with A. Anand (eds.) Whose World is it Anyway? Civil Society, the United Nations and the Multilateral Future, (Toronto: United Nations Association of Canada,1999). (French edition, Un monde pour tout le monde. La société civile et l'avenir du multilatéralisme.)
The book was prepared as an input to the World Civil Society Conference in Montréal, December 1999. The whole book is a valuable source on the current activities and concerns of NGOs in global politics. It is available from the United Nations Association in Canada for US$40.00, including airmail postage
- 'Political globalisation and the impact of NGOs upon transnational companies', pp. 195-226 in J. V. Mitchell (ed.), Companies in a World of Conflict, (London: Earthscan and Washington: The Brookings Institution, for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1998).
This chapter analyses how TNCs can avoid coming into conflict with NGOs and concludes their only option is to minimise criticism by avoiding policies and practices that they are not willing defend. The logic of this position is that they must develop an explicit statement of business ethics and ensure that all their employees are aware of it
. - 'Who cares about the environment?', chapter in J Vogler and M Imber (eds.), The Environment and International Relations, (London: Routledge, Economic and Social Research Council Global Environmental Change Series, 1996).
This article analyses the nature of values in environmental politics. It is argued that environmental values are not distinct from so-called objective interests, which are just assertions of the value of security and/or wealth. NGOs gain significance in environmental politics as actors who mobilise support for the particular values of biodiversity, health, beauty and animal rights. Adopting a theoretical approach focused on values is of general importance for the study of global politics. It is the prime way in which NGO are transformed from being interesting empirical phenomena to having a central role in political theory.
Readers who are interested in such an approach should also consult the new book on Amnesty International by Ann Marie Clark, Diplomacy of Conscience, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001).
- 'From Stockholm to Rio and Beyond: The Impact of the Environmental Movement on the United Nations Consultative Arrangements for NGOs', Review of International Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1, January 1996.
This article reviews the impact of the Stockholm and Rio conferences on the general arrangements for all NGOs to relate to the UN and UN conferences. It is argued that the impact of Rio has been grossly over-stated, as NGO rights had been steadily increasing since the early 1970s. In addition, the euphoria at Rio did not carry through to significant changes in the statute that had been operating since 1950. The one exception was the routine acceptance of national NGOs within the system for consultative status.
- Transnational Actors and Changing World Order, paper for a United Nations University conference, March 1992, Yokohama: publication March 1993 as PRIME Occasional Paper Number 17, International Peace Research Institute Meigaku, Yokohama, Japan.
This paper is an assertion of the importance of transnational actors within the context of a discussion of Rosenau's approach in Turbulence in World Politics: A Theory of Change and Continuity, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990).
- 'Transactions, Networks and Systems', in A J R Groom and P Taylor, Frameworks for International Co-operation, (London: Pinter Publishing, 1990).
This chapter analyses the Realist, Functionalist, Structuralist (neo-Marxist) and Pluralist (Global Politics) approaches to the nature of international systems. It argues that interdependence and transnationalism, the increased importance of global economic issues and the need to recognise the impact of international organisations all undermine the dominant Realist approach. Only a Pluralist analysing issue-systems offers a comprehensive alternative.
- 'Interdependence: New Wine in Old Bottles', in J.N.Rosenau and H.Trompe, Interdependence and Conflict in World Politics (Aldershot: Gower Press, 1989).
This chapter argues that consideration of interdependence as occurring between states undermines its use as a meaningful distinct concept. Interdependence has to exist between identifiable coherent actors and therefore it should only be used in relation to transnational, transgovernmental and intergovernmental actors. It can only be part of a Pluralist and not a Realist approach to theory
- 'The Pattern of Conferences' in A J R Groom and P Taylor, Global Issues in the United Nations Framework, (London: Macmillan, 1989).
This chapter defines what may be considered as a "global conference" and systematically analyses data on participation in 147 such conferences from 1961 to 1985. Particular attention is given to the level of participation by NGOs and the exceptional nature of the Stockholm UN Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.
- 'The United Nations as a Political System', in P Taylor and A J R Groom, International Institutions at Work, (London: Pinter Publishing, 1988).
This chapter argues that the UN cannot be understood from a reductionist approach that sees its decisions as being no more than the sum of the policies of its member states. It is an independent political system in which delegations interact more closely with each other than with their ministries in the capital cities. Delegates do not simply follow instructions. They are subject to influence by the other delegations, the caucus groups, the NGOs and secretariat officials.
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Books with some Editorial Work by Peter Willetts
- A. Chetley, The Politics of Baby Foods: The International Campaign to Control the Marketing of Dried Milk by Transnational Companies ,(London: Pinter Publishers, 1986).
The book is a detailed account by the first General Administrator for the International Baby Foods Action Network (IBFAN) of the campaign to obtain the passage by the World Health Organisation of an International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.
The only formal academic content is a brief preface by Peter Willetts that discusses the lack of validity of the distinction between high and low politics. The preface also includes the original source of the estimate that bottle-feeding causes one million deaths per year and an explanation of how the estimate was calculated. The figure has sometimes been attributed to UNICEF. It was based on their data, but not made by them.
The book has great value for teaching purposes, as a very rich empirical account of the relations between NGOs, TNCs, governments and international secretariats on a particular issue. Students can then be challenged to analyse it in theoretical terms for themselves.
- David Humphreys, Forest Politics. The Evolution of International Co-operation, (London: Earthscan Publications, 1996).
The book is the authoritative account of the global politics of rainforests, in the 1980s and the early 1990s. It covers the Tropical Forestry Action Plan of the FAO, the International Tropical Timber Organisation and the forest negotiations during and immediately after the UN Conference on Environment and Development. It provides a detailed account of the involvement of NGOs in the global diplomacy. The book is based on the author's doctorate from City University.
- K. Suter, An International Law of Guerrilla Warfare: The Global Politics of Law-Making, (London: Pinter Publishers, 1984).
The book outlines in detail the role of NGOs, notably the International Commission of Jurists and the International Committee of the Red Cross, in initiating and negotiating the 1997 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions.
- Mandy Bentham, The Global Politics of Drugs Control, (London: Macmillan Press, due 1998).
The book is an important contribution to theoretical debate about the analysis of contention over values in global politics. It concludes that there is not a single "drug problem", but a series of policy domains, in which issues concerning production, trade and consumption of drugs arise. In a domain such as international finance where high consensus on the norm of opposing money laundering exists a strong international regime has been developed. In contrast to this there is little action on social welfare questions, because no consensus exists on the values to be pursued, let alone on any more specific policy norms. The book is based on the author's doctorate from City University.
- Mira Filipovic, Governments, Banks and Global Capital, (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 1997).
The book analyses the development of global capital markets and the consequent need for regulation to guard against the systemic risk that imprudent and/or corrupt practices could threaten the viability of all global banks. It covers the development of international standards by both an intergovernmental body, the Basle Committee and a hybrid international non-governmental organisation, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). It makes an important contribution to the development of a non-state-centric version of regime theory. The book is based on the author's doctorate from City University.
- Peter Hough, The Global Politics of Pesticides, (London: Earthscan, due 1998).
The book considers seven different policy domains affected by the use of pesticides: crop production, disease control, safety of workers, environmental pollution, food contamination, trade and Integrated Pest Management. It demonstrates how some of the problems, notably the contamination of food, have been successfully regulated at the global level, while NGO campaigns on other problems have yet to make an impact. A stimulating conclusion discusses under what conditions international regimes can be established. The book is based on the author's doctorate from City University.
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Emeritus Professor of Global Politics, City, University of London
P dot Willetts at city dot ac dot uk
Last full update on 2 June 2015.
Publications updated as of 10 October 2018.
UN links and ECOSOC Lists of NGOs updated 26 May 2022.